Female celebrities going commando

Is it my imagination, or is there a new kind of flasher in town? Not the flashers of legend - those sad, broken men opening their grubby raincoats in public parks to show teenage girls what a mid-life crisis looks like. The New Flashers are generally young, gorgeous, famous and, oddest of all, female - girls such as Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton, both 'caught' in their time leaving off their knickers to party, revealing themselves to be exhibitionist in a way even battle-hardened paparazzi never bargained for, forcing editors to gulp and reach for their pixelating technology, and to thereby 'save' their readership from the corrupting sight of all those runaway front bottoms.

It seems significant that, joining the 'commando' elite last week, was Britney Spears, freshly liberated from her duff marriage, swanning around with Hilton, in what appeared to be a frontless dress teamed with no knickers. Granted, the word 'classy' failed to spring to mind (talk about advertising one's single status). Then again, remember Mrs Federline, as she was, only a few weeks ago, shuffling around in a grubby velour tracksuit (the uniform, nay the burka, of the depressed housewife). The reborn Ms Spears was a different, happier creature altogether - giggling, staggering immodestly out of the back of a car, leaving nothing to the imagination, the image topped off with the de rigueur, blushes-saving pixelation. The question being, whose blushes? (Ours?) Certainly not hers. There was a message in Britney's eyes: 'I'm free, I'm back, and nothing and nobody is going to stop me having the time of my life.'

There are plenty of worrying aspects to the New Flashers. Could it be a horrible sign that young female stars are having to go ever further to guarantee attention - even to the point of flashing their 'bits' in the manner of off-duty porn stars? Indeed, scratch the surface post-feminist bravado, and is there too much pathos in this panty-less mix? One man (who stressed he was in no way 'against' the idea of young women with no knickers on) likened it all to 'baboons in the zoo, displaying their red bottoms'. And displaying them like never before. Indeed, when post-divorce Ulrika was seen wryly flashing her bottom to the paparazzi, because it was 'just' the cheeks it would be viewed as lily-livered cowardice by the new fearless breed of commandos.

In the film Basic Instinct, Sharon Stone (the spiritual leader of the New Flashers, the cultural high priestess of commando) famously gave the public more than they'd bargained for in mainstream cinema. The ensuing debate (showing off one's front bottom for money equals porn, innit?) could not ignore the fact that Stone's character was strong and powerful, and had 'flashed' on her own terms, namely as a form of assertion rather than submission. All of which makes you wonder why we're at all surprised when, 15 years later, a whole new generation of Lindsays and Britneys are merrily flashing their front bottoms, accidentally or otherwise (know your Freud, there are no accidents). And not only that, barely managing to summon a ladylike blush between them. (Lohan allegedly roared with laughter when the photos were printed in the British press.) Indeed, it is precisely this brand of 'Get a load of this then' insouciance that makes the New Flashers so interesting and powerful.

No one is suggesting that all females should go commando. However, it is heartening that, out there, there is a new breed of young women, the 'Daughters of Sharon', if you like, who feel totally in charge of their sexual destiny and are happy to let people know it. Nor is there any male equivalent (though Colin Farrell seems to be giving it his best shot), making what initially looks like just another form of dreary starlet exhibitionism look positively feminist, if only in terms of a statement of intent, a show of feminine power. That's why, oddly, it wasn't sad to see post-split Britney running around town commando. Britney didn't look slutty - well, actually she did, but she meant to. She also looked wild and happy, in charge, for the first time in ages. And that's something you just can't pixelate.